Watercolor Portrait Tutorial
In this video, Pavel takes viewers into his Montreal studio for a quick and straightforward demo of painting a portrait. He starts by showing a low-quality photo of an unknown person he took on the street, which he uses as his reference. Pavel explains he’s working on a half Imperial size of Sanders Waterford 300-gram high white paper using just four colors: quinacridone sienna, pyrrole violet, indigo, and cobalt, all from Daniel Smith. He stresses that these colors alone will suffice for the entire painting. Before beginning, Pavel prepares his paper by wetting the back side to ensure it’s damp, facilitating a smooth application of watercolor on the dry top side.
Pavel sketches the portrait lightly, marking key areas to guide his painting. He initiates the painting process by applying a light wash to outline the light areas, planning to build upon this foundation with shadows to give depth to the portrait. He mixes quinacridone sienna and pyrrole violet for the skin tones, adjusting the mix to capture the subtleties of the subject’s complexion. As the painting progresses, Pavel introduces cobalt for the shadows, blending it with the initial colors. He uses a calligraphy brush for finer details, carefully balancing the light and shadow to maintain the portrait’s realism without making it too dark.
Pavel uses a limited color palette to enhance the portrait’s depth and realism. By carefully controlling the mix and application of his colors, he demonstrates his skill in creating a lifelike portrait that captures the subject’s essence with a minimalistic approach.
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Watercolor Portrait Tutorial
In this lesson, Jordan Rhodes demonstrates painting a portrait with watercolor. He begins by sketching the portrait on copy paper, using graphite on the back for easy transfer to watercolor paper. Jordan opts for Strathmore 500 series Gemini watercolor paper, cold press, 300 GSM, and introduces his brush selection: Princeton round brushes in sizes 12, 8, and 2, a flat half-inch brush, and a half-inch angled brush. He uses his Mary Blue 36 watercolor set for paints.
Jordan starts by wetting the paper with a size 12 Princeton brush and preparing it for painting. He chooses a sky blue, specifically cerulean, for the base color, mindful of preserving the white of the paper for highlights. This step is crucial as the watercolor’s transparency means the paper’s whiteness provides the light in the painting. As he applies the base layer, Jordan plans the portrait’s values, especially around the hair, one of the darkest areas.
After letting the base layer dry, Jordan proceeds with a size 8 Princeton round brush, focusing on colors seen in the portrait, starting with burnt sienna. As he moves to the neck area, he introduces a color shift with quinacridone and a bit of permanent rose matter deep for red tones. Despite the painting reaching the “ugly stage,” Jordan encourages persistence and faith.
For the hair, Jordan mixes a dark greenish color using cupric green deep and dragon’s blood, a brownish-red, creating a dark, rich color suitable for the hair’s shading. He notes the need for multiple layers to achieve the desired darkness and advises strategic painting based on the paper’s dryness to control the paint’s spread.
Switching to a half-inch flat brush, Jordan paints blockier fields of color to match his style, using yellow ochre to adjust the highlights and lower the contrast. He then uses a size 2 round brush for finer details, gradually building the portrait’s depth and definition. Jordan concludes the painting by adding hard edges and geometric shapes, reflecting his taste, and finishes with hints of the shirt and background.
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Real Time Watercolor Portrait for Beginners
The artist guides viewers through a simple watercolor portrait in this tutorial, perfect for beginners. For this project, the artist provides a reference photo and line work for viewers to sketch or trace onto watercolor paper.
The artist recommends 100% cotton paper, opting for SMLT Art paper but noting that various brands will work as long as they’re cotton. The artist uses basic colors from the Sennelier test pack: Ultramarine Blue, Lemon Yellow, Bright Red, and Chinese Orange, suggesting Burnt Sienna as an alternative for Chinese Orange. The artist advises arranging the palette similarly to theirs for ease of following along.
The process begins on dry paper to control the spread of paint, mixing blue and Chinese Orange to mark the shadows, especially around the eyes and nose, setting the portrait’s tone. The artist gradually introduces colors, adding warmth and depth to the skin with additional Red, Lemon Yellow, and Chinese Orange, carefully maintaining the paper’s white for highlights.
As the portrait develops, the artist builds layers, adjusting the mix and water ratio for the desired effects, from soft shadows to rich skin tones. The artist demonstrates techniques for adding depth, such as feathering colors and blending for smooth transitions.
This tutorial showcases the artist’s process of creating an expressive and nuanced watercolor portrait, and demonstrating the medium’s fluidity and embracing its unpredictability. Through careful layering and water management, they bring the picture to life.
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